Section 3 Affected Environment 3.6 Cultural Resources 3.6.1 Introduction This section identifies cultural resources, which include archaeological resources and historic architectural resources located in the Study Area, and the prehistoric and historic contexts in which to place the cultural resources, and assesses the potential effects of the Proposed Action on these resources. The Study Area comprises the Area of Potential Effect (APE) for the Proposed Action and 1,000 feet of the APE; the APE for this analysis is defined as the 243 parcels (440 tax lots). In addition to determining the potential effects of the Proposed Action on identified cultural resources, the objectives of this analysis was be to demonstrate the long history of the Oneida within the Central New York Region and in particular, the parcels owned by the Nation that are subject of the trust transfer to the U.S. government; that the Oneida occupation and utilization of the Central New York Region is part of an even longer term utilization of this area by prior Native American cultures; and the importance of the Study Area (inclusive of the lands now owned by the Nation) to Oneida heritage, tradition, and identity both spiritually and in terms of developed lifeways. The Oneida homeland extends across present-day Oneida and Madison Counties in the Central New York Region, stretching from the upper Mohawk valley to the Oneida River drainage basin and includes the 17,370 acres of land now owned by the Nation and proposed for trust transfer. At its greatest historic extent, Nation lands extended from the Saint Lawrence River to the upper Susquehanna valley and beyond, a domain of about six million acres. The core of the Oneida homeland is centered on the Oneida and Cowaselon Creek valleys, southeast of Oneida Lake. For over 10,000 years, Native Americans have been utilizing the Central New York Region, which includes the 17,370 acres of land now proposed for trust transfer. Native American continuity of occupation on the land, manifested through a variety of cultures, is readily apparent. The Oneida and their ancestors developed special relationships to the land adapting to changing environmental and social conditions first as nomadic hunter- gatherers, later as prehistoric agriculturalists, and finally as historic farmers and tradesmen. While life was at times difficult, Native Americans and their cultures generally thrived. It was the arrival of Europeans and their geo-political and commercial priorities that resulted in drastic lifestyle changes for the Oneida and a century’s long battle to retain control of their lands. This battle is ongoing today. Government land policies and the ever increasing influx of settlers to the Central New York Region ultimately reduced Oneida control over most of their homeland; this occurred even though the Oneida remained loyal to New York State and the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. Throughout their trials, as stated by Taylor, the Oneida kept hoping that they would cease being treated by the Americans “as inferior beings without the same feelings of hurt, sorrow, and loss that whites would have felt if similarly deprived of their property and Bureau of Indian Affairs Draft EIS 3-127 Oneida Nation of New York Conveyance of Lands Into Trust Section 3 Affected Environment respect. Instead the Oneida wished to be honored and rewarded as trusted friends who had stuck by the United States when and where it most needed allies” (Taylor, 2003). 3.6.1.1 Regulatory Framework for Evaluation of Cultural Resources Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470) and the New York State Historic Preservation Act (SHPA) of 1980 require federal and New York State agencies to assess the impacts of certain projects on historic resources that meet the eligibility criteria for inclusion on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. The task of providing oversight and guidance to New York State and federal agencies in implementing the statutes in New York State is the purview of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP); this agency is also the designated New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) under the NHPA. Under New York State and federal statutes, New York State and federal agencies are required to identify, evaluate, and avoid or mitigate impacts to buildings, structures, objects or sites that are listed on or considered eligible for listing on the New York State and/or National Registers of Historic Places. Accordingly, compliance with the SHPA and the NHPA is required for projects involving New York State and federal agencies that includes consideration of historic resources as part of the environmental review process and occurs during the initial stages of a project. The NHPA defines an historic resource or historic property as “any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in, or eligible for inclusion in the National Register (of Historic Places); such terms include artifacts, records and remains which are related to such a district, site, building, structure, or object” (United States Department of the Interior, 1985). The National Register of Historic Places defines a historic property as a “district, site, building, structure, or object significant in American history, architecture, engineering, archaeology, and culture. A historic property may be a row of stores having cast-iron fronts or Mount Vernon, a water tower or a city park, a railroad station, an ethnic neighborhood, or the archaeological remains of a prehistoric Indian village. It may be of value to the Nation as a whole or important only to the community in which it is located” (United States Department of the Interior, 1985). The criteria of eligibility for listing of properties on the National Register of Historic Places is that the quality of significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects of state and local importance that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association and that: • are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; • are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; • embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction or that represent the work of a master or that possess high artistic values or that Bureau of Indian Affairs Draft EIS 3-128 Oneida Nation of New York Conveyance of Lands Into Trust Section 3 Affected Environment represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction or • have yielded or may be likely to yield information important in prehistory or history (United States Department of the Interior, 1985). Accordingly, based on these definitions and criteria for this analysis an historic resource is any property listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places (included National Historic Landmarks) or contained within a district listed on or formally determined eligible for listing on these registers, any property determined to be eligible for listing on these registers by the SHPO, and properties not included in these categories but which nonetheless may meet eligibility requirements for listing on these registers. Appendix D provides information on the archaeological resources and historic architectural resources identified within the Study Area. Some of the site location information is considered confidential by the responsible agencies; therefore, those data sources are not included in Appendix D. Archaeological resources consist of the physical remains, usually buried, of past human activities. In New York State, archaeological resources can include the remains associated with Native American and Historic period activities that have potential value for the information that they may provide on the behavior patterns and activities of previous inhabitants or about important historic events. Previously recorded archaeological sites located within the 17,370 acres of land now owned by the Nation and proposed for trust transfer or located within 1,000 feet of those lands are identified in this section and in Appendix D. The 1,000-foot distance is considered adequate for the identification of archaeological resources in terms of physical, visual, and historical relationships to the APE. Table 1 in Appendix D provides pertinent information on the previously identified Native American archaeological sites. The precise location information for the sites is not provided in order to aid in the preservation of those resources, although due to the activity of amateur archaeologists and other collectors as well as the difficulty inherent in enforcing regulations intended to protect the integrity of such locations, many sites of cultural interest have to some degree been previously disturbed. Nation parcels that are located within areas generally considered by the SHPO to be archaeologically sensitive are also identified. Table 1 in Appendix D provides pertinent information on Nation parcels located within archaeologically sensitive areas. For historic architectural resources, this section identifies known properties eligible for listing on or are on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places that are located on lands now owned by the Nation, as well as all existing structures